New Diversity Initiative to Expand Opportunities for Minorities in Entertainment Law and Policy Launched by the Motion Picture Association and the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program
First-Ever MPA-EICOP Fellowship Targeting Law School and College Grads from HBCUs, HSIs, and Other Minority Serving Institutions to Help Build More Industry Diversity and Inclusiveness
Applications Now Being Accepted at EICOP.org/Fellowship
WASHINGTON – The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP) today launched the first-ever MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship program. The Fellowship will offer two recent college, university, or law school graduates from Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), a year-long, paid program with the legal and government affairs departments of the MPA and one of its six member studios.
“As we honor the MPA’s 100th anniversary, ten years of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative, and now five years in partnership with EICOP, I am thrilled to officially launch this new Fellowship,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association. “This prestigious program will strengthen our ongoing efforts to diversify the Hollywood pipeline, which is critical to ensuring that our industry continues to create and tell stories in innovative ways that push boundaries and shape culture.”
Founded in 2012, the MPA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program today supports 51 civil rights, multicultural, and educational organizations, including Southern University and A&M College, and the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The MPA and its six member studios are all existing partners of EICOP and its programs.
“We are excited to build on our existing relationship with the Motion Picture Association and launch this new Fellowship today,” said Stacy Milner, President and CEO of the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program. “This program will open doors and create opportunities for a diverse community of people who have historically been underrepresented in the entertainment law and policy professions. Regardless of your educational background or level of technical expertise, there is a job and a place for you in the entertainment industry.”
The MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship will eliminate systemic barriers by providing housing, travel, and pay stipends to ensure participants have opportunities to gain valuable exposure to the entertainment industry. Each year’s class of fellows will spend three months working at the MPA’s Los Angeles office, followed by three months at the MPA’s global headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will finish with six months of hands-on work experience at one of the association’s member studios (Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros.).
As part of that rotational schedule, Fellows will interact with industry leaders, build networking skills, and attend industry events, including visits to studio lots and top law firms to further expand the Fellows’ knowledge of entertainment law and policy.
Applicants must be recent graduates of accredited HBCU, HSI, or MSI colleges, universities, or law schools by the time the Fellowship begins. The inaugural class must commit to participating in the program from June 1, 2022 to June 1, 2023. The application period for the fellowship begins today and runs through December 30, 2021.
Additional information about the program, the application process, and criteria for selecting Fellows is available at EICOP.org/Fellowship.
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About The Motion Picture Association
The Motion Picture Association, Inc. (MPA) serves as the global voice and advocate of the motion picture, home video, and television industries. It works in every corner of the globe to advance the creative industry, protect its members’ content across all screens, defend the creative and artistic freedoms of storytellers, and support innovative distribution models that bring an expansion of viewing choices to audiences around the world.
Its member studios are: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Netflix, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO.
About Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program
EICOP is a non-profit educational arts workforce development program. We are dedicated to educating, training, and recruiting the best and brightest diverse student leaders from our nation’s Historically Black Colleges, Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) for careers across all aspects of the entertainment, media, sports, music, and technology industries.